About

Daryl Conner is chairman of Conner Partners, an advisory firm that specializes in strategy execution. Daryl and the firm have a steadfast focus: they help clients deliver the promised benefits for the most difficult type of strategic change - change that transforms the business. As an internationally recognized leader in organizational change, Daryl serves as an advisor and mentor to senior executives around the globe.

Over his extensive career, Daryl has worked with many of the most successful organizations in the world, including Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and nonprofit institutions, to help them achieve the full intent of their most urgent and critically important initiatives. A dynamic and engaging public speaker, he has addressed thousands of executives in corporate settings, national conferences, and public programs.

Daryl grounds his work on a strong foundation of research and extensive consulting. He has authored two books Managing at the Speed of Change (Random House, 1993) and Leading at the Edge of Chaos (John Wiley & Sons, 1998) and more than 250 publications, including journal and magazine articles, monographs, book chapters, and videos. Daryl's blog, Change Thinking, is written for change management professionals who want to raise the level of their game and that of the field of change execution.

Throughout his career, Daryl has documented the actions leaders take that lead to successful and unsuccessful implementation of strategic change. The patterns of successful execution are known, reliable, and replicable. Daryl provides candid guidance and focus around these patterns of success to executives responsible for strategic initiatives and to the teams that support them.

One common thread connects all of Daryl's work: helping businesses operate more effectively in a turbulent world by applying fundamental principles about change.

Topics

What Daryl Connor talks about:

Managing at the Speed of Change

This classic, newly revised with the latest research and insights, is an indispensable source for anyone from mid-level managers to CEO's who must execute key business initiatives quickly and effectively. Managing at the Speed of Change has helped countless business leaders learn how to orchestrate transitions vital to their organizations' success. Rather than focusing on what to change, this book is far more valuable: it shows readers how to change.

Based on Conner's long-term research and his decades of consulting experience, Managing at the Speed of Change uses simple, easy-to-understand language and elegant visuals to explore the dynamics of change, and in doing so, teaches readers:

Why major change is difficult to assimilate;

What distinguishes resilient individuals from those who suffer future shock;

How and why resilience forms;

How people become committed to change;

Why organizational culture is so important to the success of change;

The roles most central to change in organizational settings; and

Why powerful teamwork is at the heart of achieving change objectives, and how to foster it.

Leading at the Edge of Chaos

The tempo of change has sped up to a dizzying pace over the past few years. Success amidst such turbulence calls for much more than what change management models have to offer. It calls for a radically new kind of organization, nimble enough to adapt instantly to changing market conditions, and piloted by leaders versed in the art of leading at the edge of chaos. This book is not about decision making; it is about execution. It is not about predicting change; it is about adapting to it at a moment's notice. Daryl Conner defines the new roles that all leaders must assume to direct the changes that are crucial to their organization's survival, and he arms them with action steps for instilling their companies with the nimbleness and resilience needed to survive and thrive in today's super-volatile markets.

Project Change Management

Project Change Management combines change management concepts and project management concepts to illustrate how they complement each other. Along with a step-by-step procedure designed to apply change management to complex programs like process redesign and SAP projects, it provides field-tested organizational change findings and concepts to help you systematically incorporate change into your strategic management plan.